Tainted or not, eggs are not safe

September 5, 2010|By Neal Barnard

In the wake of the largest egg recall in history, Americans are wondering, "Are eggs safe in my town?"

The answer is no. Eggs are not safe. They may or may not have salmonella. But a single egg has more cholesterol than an eight-ounce steak. There is also a surprising load of "bad" (saturated) fat along with it. In fact, about 70 percent of the calories in eggs are from fat.

More than a thousand people have been sickened by this outbreak of salmonella, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in children, elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Consumers with "suspicious" eggs are directed to check the dates and codes stamped on the end of the carton.

But these dates and codes won't help the millions more Americans who have fallen victim to heart attacks, strokes and other diseases caused by high-fat, high-cholesterol diets. Consumption of eggs even increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a 2008 study of about 57,000 men and women. Daily egg intake was associated with a 77 percent and 58 percent increased risk for women and men, respectively.

If you cracked two eggs into your skillet, you've just laid 10 grams of fat. About one-third of that fat is in the "bad" (saturated) form. And to understand the cholesterol numbers, let me give you a comparison. A Burger King Whopper has 87 milligrams of cholesterol. A McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese has 94 milligrams. A Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has 160 milligrams. But one large egg has 212 milligrams of cholesterol.

What is all this cholesterol and fat doing in that egg? The answer, of course, is that they are building a chicken.

A developing chick cannot call out for room service. Everything that is going to turn into feathers, bones, claws, a beak, an intestinal tract and all the internal organs has to be in the egg when it is laid. Before the egg hatches, these ingredients rearrange from an amorphous mass into a complete bird body. Because cholesterol is used to build animal cell membranes, the mother hen packs an enormous amount of it into every egg she lays.

Eggs are designed to build chickens, and that's it. Organic, nonorganic, grade A or not — eggs are simply not safe. It's not enough to cook them longer or return tainted eggs for another carton. Instead, we should replace these cholesterol bombs with healthful foods.

And while we're at it, let's replace other animal products with healthful foods. Chicken and other poultry products are the leading cause of foodborne illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Beef is a close second. Eating meat and other animal products also increases the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and even cancer.

Neal Barnard, M.D., is a nutrition researcher and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.